Apple has finally got rid of the widely criticized Genius ads from the Olympics. Now, whether it is based on the strong reaction of the critics and fans or just because they were intended only for a “first run” during the Olympics as being claimed by TBWA, it doesn’t matter.
The fact remains that these ads were not at all effective. With the new Genius ads, Apple had moved away from their tradition of focusing on the product and rather promoted their service which didn’t quite sync with the target audience, resulting in wide criticism across the globe.
Google greatly benefited from this fiasco by Apple as their ads of the Nexus 7 were appreciated and considered to be much more effective in comparison to Apple.
Apple’s latest ads received as many dislikes as likes on their YouTube channel which is a first for them, with one of the latest Genius ad getting 4000 likes and dislikes as compared to 6000 likes and just 700 dislikes for a Martin Scorsese ad talking about Siri. They usually receive much more likes than dislikes.
Apple is known for their marketing prowess and their ads form a huge part of it. They would do well to stick to their traditional strengths and perhaps stick to talking about their product rather than service for now until they get hold of better concepts.